Act of God

I come to this show not because I want to learn but because I just want to watch a good tv show. I don't automatically relate the characters to their real - life counterparts. These people in the Crown are fictional for all I care. Anyways, the cinematography of this thing just improves every single episode. They do several interesting camera sequences and that is appreciated. A solid episode.

This is such a wonderful series. I feel that they have shown respect for British history without candy-coating it. The pomposity of the Royals is quite astounding. There is a scene where the elderly former queen tells young Elizabeth why the monarchy is necessary and why there is the idea of divine right. When she says that they represent what is great for the commoners to have something to aspire to, it's a bit hard to take. One need only look at the treatment of others through imperialism and hatred to come to that conclusion. Can you say Scotland and Northern Ireland? The new Queen seems to ingest this but we don't get a clear picture of how much of it she buys. The episode revolves around an intense combination of fog and pollution that has filled London. People are dying or suffering. Of course, the people blame the government for what is going on, and Churchill has no interest in doing anything. The rest of Parliament is only interested in driving the old guy out, using this catastrophe to sway the people against him and introduce a vote of no confidence. Churchill has a young female aide whom he adores (though he lords it over her). Her fate changes the shape of things. Meanwhile, Prince Philip is trying to carve out a life for himself as Mr. Elizabeth, but he is under intense scrutiny. Once again, the camera work and staging is so creative.

The episode focuses mainly on a single event, and its effects on the government and the populous. By making everything everything in the episode tie together like this, it lends the narrative an urgency and unity that has been in some ways lacking up to this point. Mind you, if every episode were like this, it could start to feel episodic. But thrown in with a bunch of more diverse ones like this one was, this kind of episode comes as a refreshing, exhilarating change of pace.

A thick fog has fallen over London, and Churchill is in denial about its significance. His refusal to act provides an opportunity for others to act against him, destabilizing the entire political situation. Because of the fog, the characters are forced to remain indoors most of the time, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere which is heightened by the rising political tensions. This atmosphere is emphasized by the beginning and end of the episode, which contrast it with beautiful flying sequences.

This is a very good episode, with a self-contained plot and well-constructed atmosphere.

The pea souper of a fog that descends like a pall over London (not to mention the political manoeuvrings against Churchill) makes for a wonderfully claustrophobic episode.

Four episodes in, and "The Crown" is living up to it's hype. There are a few slow moments here and there, but the scripts, costumes and acting - from Claire Foy as Elizabeth, all the way down - is fantastic.

When you create a historical series, you don't need to falsify history so you can pander about climate change, sorry but this is just disingenuous. I really like this series, it's a good start but people shouldn't praise the falsifying oh history, it's what the communists used to do.